Restaurant Review #234: Olivios Bistro, Simi Valley - CLOSED

Lobster ravioli - $17.95

Update: This restaurant has closed. 

Olivios Bistro is a new Simi Valley restaurant located in the Albertsons shopping center on Madera. We decided to try it because they were offering a gift certificate on Restaurant.com for $25 off $50.



Bruschetta - free!

The restaurant was nearly empty on a Saturday night, which is often a bad sign. However, with the place

Restaurant Review #232: Saddle Peak Lodge, Calabasas

Cream of mushroom amuse bouche

Saddle Peak Lodge, named after the rock formation it sits under, has been around for more than 100 years in various incarnations, including a general store and a summer resort. Tucked away in the hills of Calabasas, sort of on the way to Malibu via Las Virgenes, you'd never know the restaurant was there if you weren't following a set of directions to it. That

Restaurant Review #227: Bar Celona, Pasadena

Poblano pepper and bean dip with crispy flatbreadBar Celona has been in Old Town Pasadena for years, but Chef Josef Centeno of Echo Park's Lot 1 helped re-do the menu recently. Though I hadn't been to Bar Celona before, I did remember looking at the menu and thinking that it didn't seem very interesting. This time, there were more things I wanted to order than I could afford (or eat).BarWe went

Restaurant Review #215: O2 Sushi, Simi Valley

Hawaiian ceviche

I found O2 Sushi on Yelp! while looking for a nice, independent restaurant in Simi Valley, land of many casual restaurants and chains. Simi Valley actually has a surprising number of independent restaurants - you just have to work a little harder to find them since they aren't in freestanding, multi-thousand-square-foot buildings with giant red signs. Perhaps even more

Restaurant Review #207: Maru, Valencia

A request to try Maru on the house was an invitation I couldn't refuse, and thank goodness I made the trek to the northernmost edge of Los Angeles's suburbs. Even if the meal hadn't had eight indulgent, generously sized courses (per person!) and even if it hadn't been free, my meal at Maru still would have been one of the best I've ever eaten.



Maru resides in Valencia

Restaurant Review #205: Desserts at Patina, Downtown Los Angeles

Champagne Mousse, citrus salad, puff pastry, tangerine sorbet, mint pearls

When I was invited to Patina by a PR firm representing Ian Gresik, Patina's pastry chef, I couldn't have been happier. We scheduled our dessert tasting for 8:00 on a Saturday. Unlike most restaurants in Los Angeles, Patina was relatively empty at that hour, which is probably because much of their business comes from pre-

Restaurant Review #202: Sushi Roku, Santa Monica

I've been to Sushi Roku, a small chain with locations in Santa Monica, Pasadena, West Hollywood, and Las Vegas, more times than I can count. I suppose I always choose it in an attempt to fulfill a sushi craving when I'm in downtown Santa Monica and don't feel like fighting rush hour traffic to Brentwood or West LA or the Santa Monica Airport, where there are considerably better options (but it

Restaurant Review #198: Pecorino, Brentwood

Tortelloni di Melanzane

Pecorino, a hard-to-spot restaurant in Brentwood’s Little Italy, serves traditional rustic Italian fare plus a few innovative creations in a cozy setting. Unlike the Italian restaurants of the suburbs, Brentwood’s eateries are small and cozy and serve smaller portions of less-Americanized dishes, and Pecorino is no exception.

The clientele also reflect the expensive

Restaurant Review #195: Il Moro's Fall Harvest Menu, West LA

Salsiccia Casareccia in Umido con Polenta Fresca

Being invited to try Il Moro's Fall Harvest menu was a unique opportunity for me in that I have never previously had a comped meal at a restaurant which I am already familiar with. I was looking forward to seeing how my previous two experiences at Il Moro as an average diner would compare to my experience as someone who needed to be impressed.

Restaurant Review #194: Cafe Bizou, Sherman Oaks

Sesame coated salmon with potato pancakes and mushrooms in a burgundy wine sauce

Despite having eaten at over 200 restaurants in Los Angeles, when my parents come to town, I have a hard time figuring out where to take them. My adventurous tastebuds don't appear to be genetic, so my knowledge of local Japanese restaurants is lost on them. Thankfully, Cafe Bizou turned out to be a place that

Restaurant Review #188: The Black Cat, Cambria, CA

Sauteed shrimp and beet gnocchi

The Black Cat, a self-described American bistro and wine bar, is one of Cambria's top-rated restaurants. "That's not saying much," you may be thinking, given that Cambria is such a small town with about twenty restaurants total. Even if it were subjected to the rigors of the LA dining scene, however, The Black Cat would fare quite well. This isn't quite as

Restaurant Review #183: Cravings, West Hollywood

Grilled calamari salad

Unlike Lucques, Nobu, and Melisse, Cravings is not a restaurant name that gets thrown around in the press and amongst foodies. You may have never heard of this restaurant, especially if you don't live in West Hollywood. But don't let a lack of buzz deter you from checking it out, because you'll be very pleasantly surprised by the food, atmosphere, and service. You'll also

Restaurant Review #173: Punch Grill, Santa Monica - CLOSED

Filet mignon in pinot noir sauce

This review is a little different from my others in that I was invited to try Punch Grill by their PR firm and they paid for my meal. Despite this, you can still count on Foodie Universe to stand by our policy of providing unbiased reviews.

Punch Grill opened in June 2006 with the mission of offering "the finest American cuisine on the Westside." They bill

Restaurant Review #148: Lucques, West Hollywood

Almonds, olives, butter and fleur de sel (an expensive French sea salt)

Few food lovers in LA haven't heard of Lucques, run by Suzanne Goin (recent winner of two James Beard awards--a massive honor in the culinary universe) and Caroline Styne. Lucques (pronounced "Luke") serves what I refer to as "upscale restaurant food." In Los Angeles, that often means Cal-Italian or in this case,